Knock Knock
by maraudler
Summary: 'That's what friends are for.' Marauders/LE
1. Peter

'You sure you don't want to at least _try_ the chicken broth?'

'Mum, I've already had three different kinds of soup today. Honestly, I'm fine,'

Mrs Evans had perched herself on the arm of the sofa her daughter was curled up on. Her hand stroked Lily's hair gently, and she looked at her with a mixture of sympathy and defeat. Lily really could be quite stubborn.

'I think I'll leave it out,'

' _Mum –'_

'Just in case!'

'That's it,' Lily said, too loudly, it seemed, as her throat boiled up and was wheezing out coughs for the next twenty seconds. Once recovered, her mother looking wholly worried, she continued. 'If you do not go right now, I'm wiping this tissue on you.'

At this, Lily brandished the very object she'd threatened her mother with. A Kleenex, perhaps once white, that seemed to have suffered every sneeze and cough she'd had in the last few days was dangling dangerously close to Mrs Evans.

'Get that infected thing _away_ from me,' she said. Lily's eyebrows rose and, though she'd buried herself deep in blankets and cushions, the arm holding the tissue stretched further.

'Alright, alright!'

Lily, half laughing – half coughing, brought it back and added it to the ever growing pile of tissues beside her. From beneath her cavern of blankets, she peeked out at her mother who, Lily noticed, was looking quite radiant. She was wearing her best dress, the deep shade of blue that matched her eyes, and had wrapped her hair up in a sleek bun, rather different to the knot she'd scrape back when working in the garage. It was different.

'You look lovely, Mum.' Lily smiled. Because she did, she really did and, more than anyone, Lily's mother deserved to feel beautiful.

'Thank you, darling,' she said, and bent down to leave a kiss on her head. 'I hope to say the same about you soon. Feel better.'

'I'm trying.' Lily gave a little sneeze and chuckled. 'I'm just going to have a nap, I think. Have fun tonight.'

Her mother smiled once more, and the last thing Lily heard before drifting off was the sound of the door shutting softly.

* * *

All-in-all, it had been quite a good nap, Lily supposed. Other than the one or two coughing fits that had woken her, dreaming of flying a dragon through Gringotts had made her sleep rather pleasant. That is until her thoughts were rather rudely interrupted by a loud clang.

She groaned at the sound, eyes opening to look around the blurry living room to find the source of the noise. Stretching her back, the blankets falling away as she did so, Lily reached to grab another tissue to blow her nose loudly.

She shivered and spluttered, grabbing the duvet and wrapping it back round her shoulders, trying to clear her mind of the echoing jangle.

Her useless attempt to rid her headache was made no better when, irritatingly, the clang rang again. It was the doorbell.

'Bloody hell.' She grunted, stuffing a tissue down her sleeve and rubbing a fist in one obnoxiously itchy eye. Heaving herself off of the sofa, blankets trailing behind, Lily walked grouchily across the room and into the hall. She wasn't quite awake enough to care that she most likely looked dead.

'Peter?'

Lily had managed to open the door, only to find herself looking across at the very round, very familiar face of Peter Pettigrew.

'Hey,' he smiled kindly. 'I just came to check up on you, Mary told me you were a bit under the weather.'

Lily sniffled, trying to return the smile. 'That's really sweet, thank you.' She hugged the blanket closer round her body as the evening air swept in.

'Right, so, no offense or anything Lil, but you look bloody awful,'

'Thanks, Pete,' she scrunched her face. 'Really appreciate that one.'

'Which is _why,_ ' Peter chuckled, reaching into the satchel slung on one shoulder, and pulling out a little bottle. 'I have brought this.' He held it out to Lily and, as she took it in her hands to read the label, her groggy expression split.

'Oh my _god_ , you're a life saver.' Lily beamed at the words written across the bottle: _Pepperup Potion_. 'I'd hug you but, you know, I don't want to kill you.'

He laughed at that. 'Honestly, I don't know why you don't have your own supply,'

Lily then registered the fact that they were both standing in the cool air outside, when they could be sat under a million blankets on a very comfortable sofa. 'Come in, come in. It's freezing out here,' she said. 'And we don't keep any because this is a muggle household, Pete.'

Following behind Lily's cape of blankets, Peter closed the door behind. 'So you're just supposed to sit it out until it just goes?'

Lily shook her head slightly, feeling the pound of her headache as she made her way into the living room. 'We have paracetamol, but sometimes you've just got to bear it.' It was then that her words caught in her throat and she began coughing, her chest burning up as each splutter scratched inside. Bent over, feeling like she was going to throw up with each cough, Lily felt a Peter place his hand on her back.

'I think maybe bearing it is a little out of the question. Go and have the potion before you die, mate.'

'Right, right.' She wheezed, hands gripping the tiny bottle. 'I'll, uh, be right back.'

Walking away, Lily heard Peter mutter, 'Survived a battle with death eaters, defeated by a cold. Honestly.'

* * *

'Oh Merlin, I feel so much better,' Lily grinned, ditching the blankets she'd been parading around the house, and stretching her arms above her. As soon as Peter turned to see her, he burst out in a fit of laughter.

'Oh, shut up,' she said, swatting him and taking a seat on the sofa opposite. 'It's better than coughing up my insides for days.'

'I'm sorry, I'm sorry,' Peter chuckled, trying to calm himself. But Lily knew he wouldn't be quiet when there was literal steam bursting out of her ears. Consciously, she pulled her hair forwards, though this only caused her friend to collapse into another fit of giggles. She could only assume, by the tingling and sweep of air that brushed at her skin, that the steam was blowing her curls above her head.

'Damn it, Peter, I can't help the side effects of the potion!' Lily said, a little irritated but, at the same time, his giggle was infectious and she hadn't laughed properly in a good few days.

'I'm going to get earmuffs,' she decided, chuckling.

'Have you got anything to eat?' Peter called as she left the room.

'Just grab anything from the kitchen!' Lily yelled back, searching the bundle of coats hung in the porch. She soon discovered a pair of furry earmuffs tucked behind a scarf and walked lightly back to the living room, finding Peter cross legged on the ground. He was taking a bite out of a chocolate bar.

Going over to face him, Lily kneeled down and noticed the rather large box lying between them. It was a deep blue, a very familiar deep blue, really, and the cardboard was decorated in little stars. Across the top, Lily read the block letters and her eyes widened in excitement.

'Is this –' her face broke into a grin. 'Is this _the_ first edition Doctor Who board game?'

'Yup,' Peter munched happily, watching Lily open the box and unfold the board onto the carpet. Little figures and cards spilled out, dice and leaflets, Lily positively squealing in glee.

'This is _amazing_ , where did you get it?' Her eyes were bright, smile unrelenting as she looked to him.

'James gave it to me,' he said. 'He said it was for you. Merlin knows where he found it, I mean, I didn't even think he knew what Doctor Who was,'

Lily felt her chest swell, and not in a way that made her want to throw up. She didn't recall mentioning her love for the show to James in the past few months of their friendship and was certainly not expecting a gift of any sort.

'It's for _me_?'

'He said he would have come to cheer you up if he could,'

Lily's smile, if possible, grew wider. 'This is so sweet of you both, honestly I was just planning to hibernate until that cold was over.' She said, clutching the little Doctor figurine. 'Seriously you lot are the best mates ever.'

'We know you'd do the same.' Peter's face softened, a gentle beam lighting his face. 'That's what friends are for, isn't it?'

'I suppose it is,' Lily grinned. 'So,' she gathered the cards from the board. 'What do you say to an evening of time travelling?'

'Sounds bloody fantastic.'


	2. Remus

Lily wobbled slightly in the heels, unfamiliar to the new height and focusing wholly on balancing her body in thin stilettos. She bobbed uncertainly across her room to the mirror and looked at her choice outfit. A long black dress fitted her curves in all the right places, legs long and slim, and boobs looking, rather unsubtly, pretty great. She looked totally different. But totally hot.

Her hair had been straightened, curled, teased, brushed, tied back, braided and sprayed before Lily had finally decided on leaving the mane in all its auburn glory. She had spent an embarrassingly long amount of time touching up her makeup for someone that maybe bothered with mascara on the best days, had painted her nails all sorts of different colours, and used every mint she could find in the house. The date was, Lily had once-and-for all decided, _not_ going to be a disaster.

Earlier that week she'd been taking a look round her village, doing a little shopping, but overall simply taking everything in. Every year, she'd make sure to visit every place in the town she'd spent her childhood, not wanting to forget anything when spending the majority of the year at Hogwarts. It had been a gorgeous day, the folk of Cokeworth bustling about the cobbled streets and going about their everyday lives. How odd, it seemed, that her life had taken such incredible turns and yet this little village would always ground her, it would always be her home.

While leaving the grocery store, arms overrun in bags, Lily had bumped into an old classmate of hers. Adam Roseland, once a little, podgy faced boy had, well, _grown_ , if Lily put it lightly. He towered her, arm muscles bulging, perhaps rather intimidating if it wasn't for his perfectly charming smile and brown floppy hair. She wasn't quite sure how she hadn't melted into a puddle right then and there.

One thing led to another, and he'd offered to take her out on a date to catch up. The restaurant he'd mentioned was possibly the classiest place in the entire county and, looking at herself in the mirror, Lily wasn't sure whether was dressed up _enough._

She sighed, tucked a curl behind her ear and began to practise different expressions. By the time her 'I think you're really fit and wouldn't mind snogging you right now, but like not in a needy way or anything' smile was perfected, Lily took a glance at the clock and saw it was almost seven. Realising that Adam wouldn't be picking her up for another hour and a half, she decided to take a break and read a bit more of her book.

* * *

Just reaching the end of a chapter, Lily heard the trill of the doorbell sound through the house. She sat up. A wave of panic fled her body, the book falling to the floor as she jumped off the bed and ran to the mirror. She'd _completely_ lost herself on time and cursed herself for messing up her hair, whilst smoothing out the dress and –

Lily stopped. The reflection of the clock hanging on her wall showed it to be just gone half seven. The sky outside certainly didn't look like it was reaching quarter to nine, and, with a puzzling expression crossing her face, she wondered why Adam would come so early when he lived roughly three minutes away.

Pulling a last, gentle brush through her hair, Lily gathered herself together and made her way downstairs in hurried footfalls. Her heart was pounding with incredible nerves.

Through the blurred window of the front door, she saw the outline of a tall Adam. Oh _crap._

 _It's alright, absolutely nothing to be nervous about, it's just a date, it's just a_ –

'Remus?' Lily's stream of thoughts fell to a stop as her hand had, with its own accord, opened the door to find a boy. But not the boy she was expecting.

'Lily,' Remus spoke in almost a whisper, his face fallen into a heart wrenchingly sad expression. Lily was stunned for words.

'Mate, are you okay?' She asked, her face worked into a worried frown. There was absolutely no reason why Remus should have been standing outside her house, looking despairingly like a lost little lamb, and while worried, Lily was just slightly confused.

'Can I come in?'

'Wha- oh yeah, of course,' Lily said as Remus walked past anyway. She looked to the door of the kitchen he'd just entered and back to the door of the house, wondering if she was missing something. After a few moments of further confusion, she went to follow, wobbling slightly on the way.

'Um, Remus?'

He was sitting at the table, pouring milk into what appeared to be a bowl of cornflakes. Lily spoke tentatively, unsure of the situation but quite clearly seeing that her friend was not in a good state. She went to sit down.

'Remus,' she began. 'Uh, not that I don't absolutely _love_ having you visit, but I'm just wondering why you're at my house?'

He looked up, hands twirling the soggy cornflakes around the bowel with a spoon. 'I found out Jessica's cheating on me.' He said bluntly.

Lily's stomach turned uncomfortably. 'Oh god, Remus. I'm so sorry.'

'Yeah.'

Lily looked at his face, noticing that his eyes seemed to be deliberately averting hers and were focused unnaturally hard on the bowl of cereal. A mixture of sympathy and anger filled her, wanting nothing more than to have a word or two with Jessica.

'Do you want to talk about it?' She asked quietly.

'No.' He shook his head. 'Yes.' He ran a hand through his hair in frustration and covered his face. 'I don't know.'

'You can tell me anything, okay?'

'I, uh –' Remus started. 'You know what, it doesn't matter.' He began to stand up. 'Don't worry about it, Lily. Sorry for bothering you.'

Within a few seconds, he'd risen from the table and was shuffling his legs to move out from the chair.

'Remus,' Lily stood up immediately after, gently reached out for his arm and rose her eyebrows in as stern a manner as she could. 'Stop,'

He did.

'Don't tell me you're bothering me when you've just come in here, to my _house_ and told me something like that, okay?' Lily said. 'I care about you and of _course_ this matters, you numpty.'

Her attempt at a firm telling off cracked a small smile out of Remus.

'And if you don't want to talk about it, that's completely fine, yeah? I'm just not having you think you're bothering me.' She went on. 'You're not bothering me at all.'

'Thanks, Lil.'

'Now, sit down and finish your cereal.'

* * *

'And when I get there, I find her all over that fucking prick Jeremy Greenstone. I didn't do anything, I just didn't _know_ what to do.'

'So you came here? Straight after?'

Remus nodded.

For the last thirty odd minutes, Remus had been recounting every suspicion he'd had of Jess being with other boys, the events of the previous week that had caused him to ask her about it, leading to a huge fight, and the story of the last couple of hours where his suspicions were confirmed. Lily hung on to every word, throwing in regular sounds of distaste at the names of the boys Remus had found out Jessica had been snogging.

'Can I ask you something?'

'Yeah?'

Lily paused, a sad smile crossing her face. 'Why didn't you go to James? Or Sirius or Peter? I love you Remus, really. But they're your –'

'I don't know.' Remus looked at the ceiling and sighed. 'I guess I didn't want them knowing I'd lost out on my first real girlfriend because she cheated on me. I guess I didn't want them thinking I was even more pathetic than I already am.'

Absolutely stunned in disbelief at his words, Lily felt a little of herself break.

'What are you _talking_ about? I –' she tried to gather the right words, tried to come up with something to say that would let him know what she was thinking. She couldn't. The words simply fell out. 'Remus. Nobody, _nobody_ , has ever thought of you as pathetic. Nobody will _ever_ think you're pathetic. You're incredibly smart and brave and such a good person. You don't deserve this, so do not ever think that what you get comes to you because it's _meant_ for you, alright? James, Sirius, Peter. They're your brothers and think better of you than anybody. The _only_ person they'll think less of is Jessica.'

'Lily –'

'No, listen.' She carried on, unaware of the little smile that had crept onto Remus' face. 'One day you will find someone and she's going to be crazy and fun and kind and she'll love you so much that you'll think you don't deserve it. But you will, Remus. You _deserve_ that.'

'Lily –' Remus was chuckling.

'What?' Lily said, a little breathless, eyes bright and fierce.

'Thank you.'

She smiled. 'C'mere.' Reaching across, her arms wrapped round him in a hug. 'I'm sorry about Jessica.'

'Me too,'

A few moments passed as they hugged. It was Remus that broke the silence.

'This is lovely and everything, Lil,' he said. 'But I feel a bit uncomfortable when you're dressed like, well –' Remus sat back, gesturing Lily's rather revealing dress.

Lily hesitated in confusion for a second before looking down and remembering the date she had with Adam.

'Oh _fuck_ ,' she muttered.

'So are these your new cleaning clothes?' Remus laughed. 'Very tasteful, I'm sure James would appreciate this new attire very much.'

Lily slapped him lightly on the arm. 'Shut up, you. First of all, that was a literal _year_ ago. Second, I literally forgot I had a date tonight.'

Remus' grin fell slightly. 'Oh?'

'Yeah, I know.'

'Um, do you want me to leave now then?'

'No, please don't!'

'Lil, if someone is coming to take you out on a date, I think I have –'

Lily scrunched up her face in frustration. She thought about Adam, her floppy haired, dreamy eyed, hunk of a date expecting to spend the evening with her. She thought about Remus, her sad, recently broken up, lonely friend prepared to leave so she could go out and enjoy the night. She thought about the black dress and stilettos, the original example of 'beauty is pain', the expressions she had to practise in the mirror because she hadn't imagined that the fun would rule out her nerves. She thought about the prospect of changing into comfy pyjamas, having a cup of tea and talking to Remus for hours. Between a disappointed stood-up date and her best friend, alone again in a pretence of being 'fine', there was really no choice.

'I'm not going on that date.'

'What?'

'I'm not going.' Lily's voice was firm, unswaying, and she was entirely confident in her decision.

'Lily, you can't just –'

'Watch me.'

She stood, swaying a little as she found her balance in the heels, and walked over to the phone. Managing to find something to hold onto for each step as she trotted across the kitchen, she eventually gave up and wrestled with the stilettos to come off her feet. 'These damn shoes, honestly. _No_ chance of me walking around all night in the bloody heels of Satan.'

'Why would you do this?'

Lily looked over and smiled. 'That's what friends are for, isn't it?'

Remus shook his head. 'That's what idiots are for.'

She grinned. 'What's the difference?'


	3. Sirius

Chopping carrots and celery in turn as she prepared lunch, Mrs Evans looked over at her daughter scribbling away at the table.

'It's such a beautiful day,' she said. 'Why don't you go out with Mary and take a walk?'

Lily looked out the window, the sun in the clear sky beaming through and brightening the kitchen. Not a single cloud in sight and the radiance of a summer's day seemed just about perfect to take a stroll, and she glanced at her mum working away with a smile.

'It's nice to sit here,' she said. 'Besides, Mary's visiting her family in Spain right now.'

'Ah, well. We can go to the farm later, yeah? After I'm finished with this,' Mrs Evans said, gesturing to a pile of sliced peppers, chopped onions, and the rainbow of vegetables piled high on various plates.

'I don't know why you won't just let me help,' Lily responded, picking up her pen and continuing to write.

Her mother ran a hand across her head pulling back the fringe that was starting to stick in the heat. 'You _know_ how picky Petunia is and you know she's ten times worse when the Dursleys visit,'

'So you're saying you don't trust me, hm?'

'What happened the last time I asked you to bring Vernon his dessert?'

Lily tried to bite back her grin, but a burst of laughter escaped as she recalled the memory. On her last visit around Christmas time, the Evans' had had the pleasant surprise of a newly engaged Petunia and Vernon. Only, Lily wasn't too thrilled at the prospect of having the stuck-up prick for a sibling – Petunia filled that slot quite nicely.

Politely offering to deliver his pie after dinner, Lily had used her best Zonko's tactics and, in a matter of seconds, Vernon's tongue had swollen to the size of a fist at his first bite of the key-lime. It may not have been her most imaginative, nor smartest move, but Lily had been pretty damn proud of herself.

'Alright, alright.' Lily chuckled. 'But seriously mum, do I have to eat with them?' She was swatted with a tea towel.

'Of course you do, this is your sister's _wedding_ we're talking about. I'm sure Petunia wants to have your input in the colour scheme and the music and –'

Mrs Evans was interrupted by a loud scoff. Petunia had just walked in.

'I don't think so.'

Lily looked over at her sister, dressed in a pristinely white blouse and pencil skirt. Her blonde curls had been pulled back into a top knot, exaggerating her long neck and sharp face; her expression had settled into a frown.

'What's got you in such a mood?' Lily asked. _Other than your engagement to a literal hippo_ , she thought immediately in response.

Ignoring Lily, Petunia turned to her mother. 'I'm expecting Vernon to be here quite soon.' She said. 'I would appreciate it if the kitchen wasn't such a mess.'

Mrs Evans' face fell a little. 'I'm only preparing dinner for his family when they come over, darling.'

'Yes, but do you have to do it in this tip? I mean, for goodness' sake, Vernon's going to think we live like animals,'

'Mum, she's right, you know.' Lily said solemnly, nodding in agreement. Both Petunia and her mother looked at her, quite stunned. 'I mean, it's a blasphemy really. _Carrots_ in the _kitchen_! Are we savages?'

Mrs Evans laughed. Petunia's eyes narrowed. 'I wouldn't expect you to understand. You've never even _been_ in a real relationship.'

'Maybe I don't need a boy to make me feel good about myself?'

'Oh, so you admit that your knowledge of blokes is a big fat zero, then.'

'Almost as big and fat as dear Vernon,' Lily said, taking a carrot and sticking it in her mouth.

'Enough, girls!' Mrs Evans said, hands on hips in a stern manner. 'I've had just about _it_ of these petty arguments. Lily, leave those carrots alone and Petunia, go and find –'

 _Clang._ The ever growing familiar sound of the doorbell rang through the house.

'That'll be him!' Petunia shrieked, flying out of the room and leaving her mother and sister to turn to each other with a deep sigh. Lily shrugged.

'We could pretend dad's been in an accident and bail out of this whole situation?' She offered.

' _Lily!_ ' Her mum hushed her, walking over to the sink to soak the potatoes.

The sound of scuffling, jangling and an unpleasant tone of Petunia's voice travelled through to the kitchen. Lily raised her eyebrows, wondering what on Earth was going on when –

'LILY! COME HERE.'

'Um, why?' Not particularly interested in seeing his snotty face, Lily had planned on avoiding Vernon for his entire stay, and wasn't really sure why Petunia would want her there anyway.

In a moment, her sister had barged into the room again, face flushed and contorted into a cold scowl. 'One of your freak friends is here.'

'Wha –?' Lily nearly tripped as she hurried out of her seat, seeing her mother raise a questioning brow.

'If he's not gone before Vernon gets here, I _will_ kill you.' Petunia spat as she raced past.

He? Who the hell was visiting her house _now_? She would have guessed Mary, but –

'Sirius?'

A rather wide eyed Sirius was standing outside her front door, his slightly shocked expression lifting into a grin as he saw her. Beside him stood… was that a _motorbike_?

'Alright, Evans?' He said as she drew nearer.

'Sirius, I'm really sorry, but what the _hell_ are you doing at my house?'

He scrunched his nose in thought. 'I take it this isn't a good time?'

Lily shut her eyes and took a deep breath. 'Just tell me why you have a bloody motorbike with you, mate.'

Sirius seemed to perk a little at her given interest and stepped back to let her take a look. She walked outside and touched the handle, inspecting the gear and feeling the leather bars.

'So, last night I was at this muggle bar,' he began, and Lily raised her eyebrows, with her 'you're _seventeen_ ' look. 'What? I didn't buy anything, I promise.'

'Sirius, would you at least –'

'I brought my own!'

' _Siriu_ –'

'Anyway, that's beside the point.' He said, waving her down. 'Right, so I'm at this bar and, somehow, I end up in a conversation about technology with this bloke. I think his name was Roger? Anyway, turns out he was planning on _scrapping_ this beauty, can you believe it?'

Lily took a look at the bike Sirius had so dramatically gestured. It was enormous and, knowing one or two things about them, she was pretty sure the motorcycle was at _least_ a couple of decades old. It certainly wasn't in good shape. At all.

'Kind of, yeah,' she said.

'C'mon, Lil. Look at its potential! I just need to fix it up and –'

'And Sirius Black will be on the road. And James will probably want to have a ride too, and there'll be two bloody maniacs shooting down the motorway at full speed,' Lily laughed, pushing her hair away as she knelt to inspect the wheels. 'So did you come all this way to show me?'

'Ah,' he said, looking away. 'That's the thing. I, uh,' Sirius looked uncharacteristically awkward for a fraction of a second before resuming his usual stance. 'Ok, so I was wondering if you'd let me work on the bike in your garage? Maybe? Please?'

Lily stood back up and put her hands to her hips. 'And why can't you do it at home?'

Sirius shrugged slightly, looking down as he spoke. 'This sounds ridiculous, alright? James' parents. They've already done so much for me. Taken me in, let me be a part of their _family_. I mean, I'm not always the bundle of sunshine you might think of me as,'

Lily snorted.

'I don't want to burden them or disappoint them, or just bring any more stress to their lives, you know?'

She nodded. She did know. Lily patted the bike and indicated her head to the side of her house. 'Well let's bring it in then.'

'Wait. You're serious?'

'At least I think so?' Lily said, leading the way to the garage door. 'This might be me just trying to get you and that bloody motorbike out the way before Vernon sees you.'

' _Vernon's_ coming?' Sirius pulled a face at the mention of the infamous Mr Dursley. 'Is that why your sister looked like she was ready to murder me? I could literally see the colour of her face change as soon as I told her I go to your school.'

'Ah yes, lovely Petunia,' Lily nodded. She was wrestling the old key into the door, trying to budge it open. 'The future in-laws are coming round later and I couldn't be dreading it more.'

He shuddered. 'Do you have to hang around? You could help me out with this,' Eventually, the door had struggled open and Sirius was rolling the heavy motorbike into the dusty room lined with tools, shelves holding paints, and tires and old games sprawled across the floor. Carefully, he put it down and lifted himself onto a table.

'Regrettably the families are discussing the wedding and our future relations.' Lily sighed. 'And apparently I'm 'part of the family' or whatever.'

Sirius let out a low whistle. 'Sorry, mate.'

'Believe me, I'm sorrier.' She sat next to him, looking at the bike filling the majority of the space. He laughed.

'So, what about Remus or Peter?' Lily wondered. 'Didn't want to burden _them_ with this giant piece of crap?'

'I'm pretty sure Remus doesn't know jack shit about anything on wheels,' Sirius said. 'And the last time I visited Peter, he was painting his nails and singing along to Celestina Warbeck.'

'Ah, so this is a _manly_ thing, then,' Lily teased, letting out a deep grunt and tensing her muscles.

'Are you kidding? This is a _Lily_ thing. You know Peter is helpless at anything remotely manual.'

'This'll be quite fun, I reckon,' she said, a wide smile crossing her face as she looked around at the garage and imagined the hours she could spend doing _muggle_ stuff. 'Dibs on first ride!'

'Damn it.' Sirius muttered, all the while wearing a smile that matched Lily's.

She jumped down from the table and walked over to the bike. 'My mum knows loads about this stuff, you know. She'll be a ton of help,'

'Brilliant.'

Lily grabbed a screwdriver from the side and sat on the floor, looking up at her friend. 'Are we starting on this or what?'

Sirius laughed, tying his hair back. 'I owe you one, Evans,'

'You owe me _several_ , mate.'

'Eh, that's what friends are for, isn't it?'

'You're damn right,' she grinned, and they began working away at what Sirius later confirmed, 'Black Beauty'.


	4. James

Placing the bottle of milk in the fridge door, Lily turned to face Annabel. She was perched on a chair, a huge bag almost blocking her face from view.

'All done, I think,' Lily said, smiling and folding her arms together as she leant against the refrigerator door. 'As long as Ella doesn't lose her teddy again, we should probably be fine!'

'Bless you for going to all this trouble,' Annabel said. 'It really is a nightmare when the nanny is ill.'

Lily waved her gratitude away. 'Oh, don't worry about it. Really, I'm happy to help,'

'You're a saint,'

'Don't be silly,' Lily chuckled. 'Look how precious they are!' She looked over at the tiny babies asleep in their pram. In a buggy beside, a little girl was sucking on her thumb and staring at the two grown-ups with wide blue eyes. Her heart swelled at the sight – they were simply too cute.

Annabel laughed a little. 'Just wait until you have your own, sweetheart,'

'Mm, I don't suppose that'll be happening for _quite_ a while, Annabel,'

'Ah, to be seventeen.' She sighed. 'What I wouldn't give to have that freedom,'

Lily blinked, her smile holding out a touch too long as she thought. Thought of the war that her friend knew nothing of, a war she was heading straight into. The dark times she would inevitably face that could no longer be denied. But, of course, that meant absolutely nothing to the muggles.

'And the body, obviously. You don't want to grow old and saggy like me, Lily.'

'You're thirty two! You look fantastic. _Especially_ since you've just had twins,'

'You're too sweet.' Annabel said, lifting her wrist and checking the time. 'Ah, it's almost eleven. I suppose I ought to get going before the girls start making a fuss.'

'Yeah, yeah, you don't want to miss the train!'

Annabel lifted herself from the seat and, patting the enormous bag, said, 'Everything you'll need is in here. I've stocked up on everything from nappies to Ella's Barbies, so you shouldn't run out,'

'Ooh, thank you. I'm sure I'll manage anyhow,'

'Alright, come here.' Annabel held out her arms and brought Lily into a hug, kissing her on the cheek. 'Thank you a million, sweetie.'

'It's no problem. I just hope you enjoy Paris!' Lily said. 'Take as many pictures as you can, I'm _dying_ to visit,'

'Definitely.' With a wide smile, Annabel let her go and slipped on a coat, walking over to the children. After softly giving Rosie and Josh's little hands a gentle shake and pecking each of their sleeping heads, she turned to the buggy. 'Ella,' she cooed.

Lily watched as Ella was lifted into Annabel's arms and buried her head in the fluffy jumper.

'Mummy's going now, alright?' She said. 'Say bye-bye!'

Ella then propped her head onto her mother's shoulder and was looking across at Lily with bright round eyes. Lily gave a smile and wave, mouthing 'bye-bye!'

Annabel repeated herself. 'Bye-bye! Can you say bye-bye for mummy?'

Her tiny fist grabbing a fistful of hair, Ella giggled. Lily had stuck her tongue out, smiling and making faces as Ella continued to watch her.

'We're getting there,' Annabel chuckled, bobbing the little toddler up and down. 'Sometimes she just wo –'

'Ba-bay!'

'Ah, there we go!' Ella bumped her hands together, smiling happily as Annabel stroked her back. 'Ooh, I'm going to miss you and Rosie and Josh,'

'Aw, she's so cute,' Lily beamed, watching Ella scrunch her face as her mum put her back in the buggy.

'My beautiful babies.' Annabel, smiling, turned to her, 'Take care of yourself, sweetie.'

'I will,' Lily smiled.

One last kiss on the cheek and after an exchange of goodbyes, Annabel had waved herself out the door. Once the sound of the car had rumbled away into silence, Lily was left standing alone. In the kitchen. Facing two babies and a toddler.

'Ah, crap,' she whispered.

* * *

After having brought the children into the living room, Lily had turned the television on and fetched the giant bag from the table. In the past few hours, she'd set up four different games for Ella to fiddle with, refilled her bottle twice and changed Josh's nappy as soon as he started bawling. Somehow, Ella had managed to find her way into the bag and Barbie dolls were strewn across the carpet; Rosie hadn't fallen back to sleep ever since Josh's sobs had woken her and, even though her nappy was clean (Lily had checked three times), she had not stopped crying.

Lily was currently sitting, cross legged in the middle of the floor, holding Rosie and trying to calm her. While swaying the little bundle, her eyes were focused on the book open in front of her, 'Baby Talk' telling her different ways on how to stop the screaming. Meanwhile Ella was whacking a plastic beater on her toy glockenspiel and toddling about the living room, causing an absolute racket. Josh was happily asleep.

'Ella!' Lily called softly. 'Ella!'

The little girl looked up, beater in mid-air as she seemed to recognise the name being called. Lily held out her left hand gently, still attempting to hold on to Rosie, and wrapped her fingers around the stick Ella was gripping onto.

'Good girl,' was what Lily _would_ have said, had the little fists let go.

It went down quite differently.

'Ow!'

Ella had a determined grip and, not wanting to add any more stress to the baby in her arms, Lily had to back up. She was hit with the beater.

'Ella!'

She giggled and, within seconds, was back to 'making music'. Lily shut her eyes for a moment and breathed in. Rosie was still crying.

'Shh, it's okay. It's okay, Rosie.' Standing up, Lily began walking slowly around the living room, trying her best not to trip over the toys on the floor. 'Shh, good girl,'

It was right then, just as there was a moment of silence and Lily's furrowed brow began to loosen, that the doorbell rang. And Rosie vomited.

Lily sighed.

'Fantastic.'

Ella had clearly found the beater far too ordinary to use on the glockenspiel and had so upgraded to slamming one of Barbie's onto each note. Lily's jumper was covered in sick, but _finally_ , she thought, Rosie had stopped crying. She was now looking up at Lily with large eyes, little creases in the crinkles as she smiled a gummy smile.

Navigating her way across the room, Lily managed to step over every obstacle Ella had thrown out of the bag and made her way to the hall. She wasn't expecting anybody, Petunia and her parents were spending the week with the Dursleys for 'further wedding planning'.

She walked across to the door, still holding onto the baby as she reached out to turn the handle. Rosie giggled.

'James?'

'Lily, hi,'

Standing outside on the front step, James Potter was wearing a wide smile, hands tucked inside the pocket of his jeans. As he looked down at her, his grin faltered a little. Lily was suddenly very aware that she had sick all over her top.

'Can you _please_ hold on one second,' she said, flushing a little. She turned away for a moment, before turning back and, without really thinking, handed Rosie over to a very confused James. 'I'll be one second, just hold on to her.'

Lily rushed back through the house, up the stairs and into her bedroom, leaving James outside with a baby. She had no idea why he was here _but_ , she thought as she hurriedly took off her t-shirt and began buttoning a flannel top, _that's not the issue right now_.

Racing back down the stairs, Lily found James in the exact same position as she'd left him. He was cradling Rosie, making little faces at her while she chirped happily.

'Sorry about that,'

He looked up, grinning. 'S'alright. What's her name?'

Lily smiled back. 'She's Rosie, and a little menace. I've got two more in the living room,'

'I'm assuming these aren't yours?'

Laughing, she shook her head. 'I'm babysitting for the weekend while their mum is in Paris. It's been pretty hectic with just me.'

'You're alone?'

'Yeah, Petunia and my parents have gone up to arrange wedding stuff,' Lily looked at Rosie, so calm and peaceful in James' arms. She smiled at the pair of them. 'Everything's just been crazy, to be honest. Here, why don't you come in?'

James did as offered and walked through the house to the living room while Lily shut the door behind. She heard his laugh on entering.

'Bit of trouble?'

Lily saw what he meant when she walked in. Of course the toys and games across the floor had created quite an obstacle course, but upon being left alone for a few moments, Ellie had taken it upon herself to unravel some string found from god-knows-where, and Josh had woken up, standing in his cot with little fingers gripping the bars. From the smell of it, he'd wet himself again.

'Oh, _Josh_ ,' Lily moaned and immediately went over to the baby. Holding him up, she saw the stain and let out a sigh. She turned to face James. 'I'm so sorry about all of this. You can just put Rosie down in this cot here,'

James shook his head. 'No, it's fine! She's really cute. I think she likes me,'

'A lot more than she likes me, I think,' Lily chuckled. 'She had, uh, just vomited on me as soon as you rang the bell,'

'So _that's_ what it was,' he grinned. 'Not fun, huh?'

'It has its ups,' Lily said as she placed Josh onto the changing mat. Undoing his nappy, she wrinkled her nose. 'And downs.'

James slid down onto the floor while Ella was sat on a cushion, fiddling with the string a few feet away. The sound of the television was _actually_ _audible_ without the screaming and glockenspiel whacking, Lily noticed. It hit her that James Potter was in her house, holding a baby he'd never seen before, for no apparent reason.

'Uh, James?'

'Mhm?'

Lily turned to face him after removing the dirty nappy. 'Why are you here?'

'I thought you'd need a bit of help.'

'No, I mean why were you here in the first place?'

James looked up. 'Oh.' He hesitated. 'Well we haven't really seen each other all summer, so I thought I'd drop by.'

'Oh.' Lily hesitated. 'So this isn't interrupting any plans, then?' She said, turning away and smiling to herself a little, despite the fact that she was wiping a baby's bum. She liked the fact that James had simply wanted to see her.

'Nothing important,' he replied, bobbing Rosie up and down. 'I was just coming to see what you were up to, I guess. Y'know, sometimes I feel spending every day in Sirius' company can be damaging to the brain.'

'I won't disagree with that.' She gave a light laugh and, gently lifting Josh into her arms, settled back onto the carpet facing James.

Ella had, just then, stood up and toddled over towards the middle of the living room, sitting down right in between the two.

'Welly,'

'That's right, Ella!' Lily smiled. 'That's my name!'

James raised his eyebrows. 'I got either _welly_ or _willy_.'

Lily rolled her eyes with a grin. 'She's not even three yet, mate. That's what she calls me.' She held out her hand to Ella and pointed towards James. 'That's _James_ , Ella. _James_ ,'

James beamed at her, waving a hand gently as she stared at him with wide eyes. The Barbie she had gripped in one tiny fist fell to the floor as she toddled over to him and smiled.

'How did this place get in such a mess? She's so calm and little,'

'That's what she makes you _think_ ,' Lily said. 'Next thing you know, you're covered in sick, there's two screaming babies and a manic toddler whacking Barbie dolls on her musical instrument.'

James laughed and tickled Rosie. 'You're too cute to do that to anyone, aren't you?'

'Kids are terrifying, James, I just don't know how people deal with it!'

James looked at her for a moment. 'So you don't want kids then?'

'I do,' Lily said. 'Yeah, I really do. No matter how crazy they are, they're always going to just be little bundles of cuteness inside, right?'

They smiled at one another. 'Yeah, I suppose so,'

Lily looked at him for a moment. He was holding Rosie so carefully, his hands the size of her body, and yet so gentle. His hair was dishevelled, as always, but in an oddly perfect way. James was certainly dressed very nicely and, on top of that, didn't smell of baby vomit. Lily began to feel slightly self-conscious, immediately remembering she was wearing no makeup, pyjama shorts, and hadn't even brushed her hair.

'It's strange to think that we'll have children one day,' she mused, turning away and lightly stroking Josh's hair. 'I mean, you know, _if_ that day comes,'

Lily could see James knew immediately what she was talking about. The war. The deaths. The victims. Starting a family seemed light-years away. Happy homes were practically extinct in their world.

'Hey,' James said. 'Don't ever think that we won't make it through this, ok? I know that we will. And I know that, one day, this whole bloody thing will be over. One day, Lily Evans is going to be a mum of three little babies, just like these, and all this will be way behind us.'

'Three?' Lily laughed.

'Oh, definitely,' James grinned. 'There'll be one boy and two girls,'

'Let's hope they're as cute as these three,'

'Much cuter,' he nodded. 'They'll all have big, green eyes and fantastically red hair,'

'Mhm, and what about you?'

James looked on in thought. 'Well any child of mine will have my dazzling looks, of course. We'll have family Quidditch games every Sunday and they'll be the best of the best before they even _get_ to Hogwarts.'

Lily watched him watch Rosie, swaying her softly.

'Everything will be okay,' he said. 'One day, everything is just going to be okay. I know it.' James smiled and Lily felt as though he was convincing himself, more than anybody else.

She held out her hand and touched James gently on the knee. 'We'll make it okay.' Her expression was warm as she looked to him, taking in everything about the boy sitting right there and knowing, truly, that they _would_ fight this.

He nodded. For one moment, there was silence as they held the babies and Ella sat peacefully on the floor, just listening to the empty background noise of the television. And then –

'ELLA!'

A wide grin broke out on James' face as the toddler had grabbed a large box of cereal and, uh –

'Oh _Merlin,_ this is a _nightma_ – James would you quit laughing?' But a smile had caught up on Lily's own face and, exhausted as she was from the madness of it all, she couldn't hold in her own giggles.

Though her arms were tiny and her stubby knees had little might, Ella had managed to muster the strength to lift the family-sized box of Rice Krispies above her head and unleash the contents all over herself.

Watching the little girl's eyes widen in confusion of the raining powder, both Lily and James burst into another bout of unstoppable laughter.

Ella squealed. 'Oops,' she whispered.

'You are a mad child, Els.' Lily chuckled. James stood, placing Rosie back into her cot, and lifted Ella into his arms. He lightly stroked her hair and dress, brushing away the remnants of cereal, and gave her a small kiss on the head.

'You've got yourself a handful here, Evans,' he said, a glint of mirth in his eyes.

Lily smiled kindly. 'Should be alright, with a bit of help now and again.'

James offered her his hand to pull her up off of the floor. 'That's what I'm here for.'


End file.
